I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image formation system for printing an image written in a liquid crystal cell by laser light modulated by image data.
II. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,999 discloses a display selectively irradiating laser light to liquid crystal cells for displaying an image in liquid crystal. In an aspect of the invention, heat of the laser light is utilized to partially change a phase of the liquid crystal; the image is formed in correspondence with an irradiation pattern of the laser light. The liquid crystal cell employed herein is, for example, a smectic liquid crystal.
Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 20773/1989 discloses a device for forming an image using the above-mentioned thermal writing liquid crystal cell. According to the invention, irradiating a light transmitted or reflected by a liquid crystal cell to photosensitive material, a latent image is formed on the photosensitive material, and an image can be formed based upon the latent image. The device includes three of the liquid crystal cells in which primary-color-images of R(red), G(green) and B(blue) are written, respectively; from the three images a composite full color image is formed.
With such conventional image formation devices, however, upon an image writing in a liquid crystal cell, a single-primary-color image is written in a single liquid crystal cell; therefore, there arises the problem that the total time required for the writing is extended.